This month's column is all about data--the importance of providers reporting accurate and complete data, as well as CMS having complete, accurate, and consistent data to compute future payment rates.
The 2016 CPT® code update may have been relatively small compared to previous years, but the urinary and genital system sections did receive numerous changes to align them with other sections of the code book.
Per CPT1, modifier -52 is used when a service or procedure is partially reduced or eliminated at the provider's discretion. Such a situation is identified by using the service's usual HCPCS/CPT code and adding modifier -52, signifying that the service is reduced.
Perhaps recognizing the massive undertaking for coding and HIM departments in 2015 with the implementation of ICD-10, the latest CPT® update includes a relatively small 367 changes for 2016.
